In a few cases women have hemorrhaged on the operating table because of it.

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It is a life-threatening condition that is on the rise.

It occurs when the placenta grows abnormally and attaches deep in the uterine wall. “It is a fairly rare condition,” said Dr. Daniela Carusi, “where the placenta or afterbirth, which normally is gently attached inside the uterus, is tightly attached to the uterus or actually growing through the wall of the uterus.”

Carusi is director of Surgical Obstetrics and General Gynecology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She said, “It's not a problem during the pregnancy but when it's time to deliver the baby usually what happens is the placenta just won't deliver.”

Those greatest at risk are women who have had previous cesarean sections. The risk rises each time the woman has another procedure involving the uterus.

“The majority of patients who have this condition end up with a blood transfusion or at least have a large amount of bleeding at delivery. So part of preparing for these deliveries is involving our blood bank and requiring quite a lot of blood products for them and having them immediately available," Carusi said.

Brigham and Women’s is sponsoring a blood drive Friday, April 3, to raise awareness of the condition and get blood donors. It’s part of a national effort called “Hope for Accreta Awareness.”

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women’s Hospital Blood Mobile will be parked at 15 Francis St., in Boston from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Boston resident Sophia Watson safely delivered her third child, son Anders, at Brigham and Women’s despite placenta accreta. “The surgery went very well but I did need, I did lose about 40 percent of my blood volume so I did need to be transfused, which is why I feel so strongly about people coming out and donating blood.”

Watson is the leader of the Boston chapter of Hope for Accreta (HFA), a nonprofit whose members educate others about the condition.

In the 1990s, about one in 1,000 pregnancies were affected by the condition. Now, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists puts the number at one in 500 pregnancies.

Anna Story, of Beverly, is the mother of three children. Her 7-month-old daughter Avery is the picture of health, despite the fact she was born six weeks premature and required surgery.

Her mother, who has rare blood antibodies, needed a transfusion for placenta accreta. “It wasn't until 18 weeks of pregnancy that I heard the word accreta. It’s very challenging, very scary. It completely changes everything when you heard that, very, very scary.”

Story wants more people to know about the condition and do the one thing they can to help.

“That's why I think it's important for people to get out there and give blood because it does save lives.”